A vinyl chloride-based resin is a general-purpose resin that is the most widely used in the world as a living and industrial material, wherein it is known that the vinyl chloride-based resin may be prepared by homopolymerization of a vinyl chloride monomer and may also be prepared by copolymerization of the vinyl chloride monomer with various monomers. The vinyl chloride-based resin has been widely used for many years in various applications and many attempts are currently being made to improve physical properties of the vinyl chloride-based resin.
A vinyl chloride-based copolymer, which is prepared by copolymerization of a vinyl chloride monomer with various monomers, has an effect of improving thermoplasticity or fluidity of a polymer after processing and improving solubility. In general, the vinyl chloride-based copolymer has been used as a means to reduce difficulties in processing conditions required for processing a desired final product.
Among the vinyl chloride-based copolymers, a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, which is prepared by copolymerization of a vinyl chloride monomer with a vinyl acetate monomer, is known as the most important product to date. The use of the vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer mostly matches with the use of a vinyl chloride polymer (PVC), but, since price of vinyl acetate is almost two times higher than price of vinyl chloride, the use is often determined by the price.
However, since a range of processing temperature expands and flow and gloss during processing, adhesiveness, and mechanical strength vary even if an amount of the copolymerized vinyl acetate is very small, applications for various purposes are being considered by considering the above characteristics.
The vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer has been used in a wide variety of applications such as a vinyl flooring material, a vinyl and textile laminate used in furniture, wallpaper, wallpaper for interior home decoration, a curtain, a floor mat, and a sealant or an automotive underbody coating.
With respect to the sealant or the automotive underbody coating, products have been produced by being processed at a lower processing temperature than a typical processing temperature due to productivity and eco-friendly issues. However, with respect to the products processed at a lower processing temperature, tensile strength may be relatively reduced in comparison to products processed at a relatively higher processing temperature.
Thus, in order to easily apply the vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer to industries, particularly, sealant or automotive underbody coating industry, there is a need to develop a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer which may have excellent tensile strength properties even if the vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer is processed under a low processing temperature condition.